Jay Ambrose: Hong Kong is worth imitating

It is standing up for consent of the people, for freedom, justice and personal rights. Millions have risked their futures through protest. But then look from east to west for a dismayingly different story. Look at the United States where too many want to get rid of President Donald Trump no matter what and are busily forsaking such principles, rewriting our history and substituting utopianism for thought.

Hong Kong has never known all the democratic delights we've known, of course, but the British, during the island's colonial days, said, hey, here's capitalism, grab hold. The people did, becoming wonderfully prosperous while given more of a chance to experience liberty.

Jay Ambrose

Colonialism ended, fear of China inspired an exodus, but authoritarianism did not then squash the island. The Chinese government said it would make Hong Kong a part of China, but with restrained interventions allowing magnificent piles of moolah to come Beijing's way.

Nevertheless, guaranteed rights eroded and China got a Maoist imitator as its leader, Xi Jinping. He took debilitating command of China's own semi-capitalist, enriching economy, aimed at super-power status and began reinstituting tyranny's recent lapses.

Working through Hong Kong's unelected leader, China sought a bill allowing the extradition of Hong Kong residents accused of crimes, meaning it could better control dissidents. It was a foul that instructed more than a million Hong Kong residents to take to the streets even as China parked troops and tanks across the border.

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Here's wishing more Americans were reacting with distress to what's happening here.

We've had government officials employ illegitimate means to unseat a legitimately elected president, and, yes, loud voices have said this was terrible. But more people appear to be shrugging their shoulders with many buying the line that the miracle of capitalism is a farce and that slavery built America. Our brilliant, courageous, enlightened founders, now minimized by leftists as nothing much, are said to have endorsed this abomination.

We are told our American creed is a farce. Several of the Democratic presidential candidates, evading reasonable routes, favor dictatorial climate change plans likely costing trillions to achieve nothing much. With variations, the top of the heap also favor collectivism, impracticality, restricted rights, judicial activism already in play and spending maybe meant to bribe voters when it could ultimately impoverish them.

What might emerge could be a protracted, devastating adventure in socialistic meanderings worse than Trump's flamboyant flubs ameliorated by such policies as enabling a flourishing economy, going after the evils of mass incarceration and nominating as Supreme Court justices two men who truly believe in the Constitution. What's scary at the moment is that he isn't addressing the crisis-prone debt and could topple his economic achievements with his tariffs on Chinese exports.

There isn't much doubt about China's Cold War antics and criminal misdoings aimed at world mastery. It has digitally invaded our federal government, stolen our intellectual property and taken over South China Sea properties claimed by other nations. Trump should still get it that a trade alliance with other Asian countries is the way to go, but lots of Democrats don't like versions of that idea, either.

And the valiant Hong Kong people? Three months of protest have forced their leader to back down on extradition but not on other demands for such things as direct elections or releasing protesters from jail.

The free world should help them in every valid way it can, and the United States should do more to help itself.

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Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com.

Mr. Ambrose, the worst, weakest, most dishonest and confused political analyst working in journalism at this time, wishes: "Here's wishing more Americans were reacting with distress to what's happening here."

The majority of Americans are doing that very thing, Mr. Ambrose, reacting with distress to what Trump is doing to our country. Let's hope that the Democrats are smart enough to harness that distress and remove Trump from office in next year's election. Unless, of course, he, the most reckless nincompoop ever to occupy the White House, does not trip himself before the election and has to resign. That is always a possibility with that clown.

Once again, Comrade, I challenge you to forswear "socialist" benefits like Social Security, police and fire protection, public roads and transportation infrastructure, public utilities and all of the other "socialist" programs that make your life worth living. Promise us you'll give up all those things.

" too many want to get rid of President Donald Trump no matter what and are busily forsaking such principles, rewriting our history and substituting utopianism for thought." My gawd I wonder where in hades Ambrose came up with such an astonishing conclusion. Talk about rewriting history. His column is so asinine its hard to know where to start. Capitalism in the colonial days didn't bring prosperity to all. It brought us the institution of slavery, exploitation of workers, and near genocide of the native population. Not until the twentieth century were many of these problems addressed. And we needed a civil war to settle the slave issue. Ambrose wants us to think it was all roses and rainbows in this countries early history. He is again way off the mark. And wanting to get rid of Trump through the election process is not anti American, its imperative if we are to have a true functioning democracy that works for all people, not just the lobbyists and uber rich.

Well, get used to him, he will be here for another 5 years. The democratic party is running on no platforms except hate Trump, and the old give the farm away BS. Only very gullible people believe that will work. The dems will try to ruin the economy to win in 2020, and that is problematic and quite sick.

I would venture to guess that the "hate Trump" platform is a pretty solid thing to run on. Trump makes that sensibility seem more reasonable every day. There is not week that goes by that he doesn't do something crazy or inappropriate. I hope the number of thoughtful, kind people out number the nuts like you and your buddies on here, but like P.T. Barnum once said, "There's a sucker born every minute."

so you are worried about giving the farm away ricky boy. Well family farmers are going out of business at a record pace ricky boy. they will have no farm to pass down to the next generation. And you can thank your orange master and his trade wars for that. Yea the economy is that great.

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